It was good for me – was it good for you

Last night was a rough one. Not much sleep and both of us woke up still feeling pretty shitty. Made for a slow start to the day and I must admit this is the first day I didn’t want to get out and explore. We made it to the Castle in time to take the short tour but since we had already seen quite a bit the day before it worked out just about right. For some reason I am intrigued by views through windows so I occupied most of my time taking photos. Val thinks it’s stupid but that’s not the only thing I do that she thinks is stupid. Can you spell NASCAR.

On our way to the Castle we saw a dog carrying a tennis ball and it seemed clear it was just waiting for the right spot to play. Made Val think about Mia and since I look for things to validate my thoughts it seemed to point out that our basic desires and needs are all the same no matter where we live and that holds true with dogs too.

After we got out of the Castle we wandered around in the snow. Wandering has become one of my favorite vacation activities. The things you find are so much more special. We came across a couple of really cool buildings. One was the Loreto and it had a small church in it with organ music playing and a treasury that had a beautiful gold and diamond cross thing that I found very attractive. I don’t know what the other building was but I got a great picture of it.

We wandered back towards the Charles Bridge and it was so nice since there were a lot less people and it made things feel very different. I really liked it and am wishing we were staying a few more days.

We stopped at a restaurant that advertised Gipsy music on Friday and Saturday. We knew it wasn’t either of those days but thought a place that had gipsy music was worth going in. Not many people there and suspect they won’t make Fodors recommended must eat places in Prague but it was perfect for us. The waiter was friendly the food was good the company was great and it didn’t cost much.

On our last trip over the bridge we noticed a nativity scene that Val liked. Upon closer look we were concerned that baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph were somehow imprisioned in Prague. Maybe that’s why they have so many cool churches - to make up for their sins?

Have not been able to fit in the absinth run so will have to make a trip back with Alec. It just didn’t work out this time as with the Hockey game. We did cross paths with a trainload of hockey fans fully dressed and it made it clear to me that I do need to come back and fit that in too. Dara will come along for that one?

We have had a wonderful trip and it would not be possible for me to have a better travel partner. Val not my laptop. Just as she does in life she has supported me when I needed it, kicked me when I deserved it and loved me every minute of every day. I am lucky not good. I hope you have enjoyed the post they have been good for me. I think I’lll go have a smoke.

The Party’s Over?

Gary and I have always been partners . . . in life, in parenting, in adventures, in many other undertakings. BUT – he does not like being a partner in this persistent sinus/congestion and today it showed. He has been moaning, yes, moaning. And not in a good way. He stood at the Metro with his eyes closed and said, “I’m just hoping I can make it home.” Good lord. Dara and Alec, I’m glad he wasn’t the carrier of you two.

More beautiful sights today—Praha is a city I would visit again in a heartbeat. We woke up to a thin layer of snow which brightens the dingy January look of the city. We walked the length of Wencelas Square and placed a rose on the Jan Palach memorial. One of the great benefits of traveling is the “thinking” time you get. I complain that in my job and at home I am in reaction mode. Here, I can contemplate and pontificate (at length). This might explain some of Gary’s grumpiness! We followed the coronation path again down Celetna and across the Charles Bridge and I was able to make my once-in-a-lifetime wish on the John of Nepomuk statute. He was a priest that the queen confessed to. The king wanted to know the queen’s secrets, but the priest said nada and was thrown from the bridge. You can imagine that my wish was sweeping: World peace in my life time.

Camille – we saw an advertisement for “real gipsy musik.” We need you here too

Tomorrow is our last day. I am so grateful to have traveled with Gary, to have seen the sites that we will talk about forever, but am so excited to go back to those who adore me.

Val’s asleep now and I’m so sick I can hardly type but I gotta get this blog post done since everyone is so faithfully following it. OK Val is asleep, I’m not quite that sick, Val only exaggerates a little bit and I don’t have any idea how many folks follow the blog but suspect it is less than I assume.

Val did not mention the two beautiful churches we went into today. Very different styles both incredible. I don’t keep track of their names so well or know much of anything about Gothic or Baroque but these were very different inside and out. The first one allowed access to the gallery (second floor kind of) and was white and had lots of what I would describe as layers. The second one had some of the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen and I have been around (Guemes, Bellingham and even to Seattle a couple of times)

The views from up at the Castle were spectacular but I was starting to run out of gas and we had to get back to the apartment. We will go back to the castle tomorrow. That is one of the things I have enjoyed about this trip is that we have been able to spend some time going back to places and not just have to hurry from one site to the next.

Val took a picture of a cool European guy on the escalator. This gave me a chance to be reflective about important things like how I have thought quite a bit about the fact that you get off of one underground line that connects to another and you go down some pretty long escalators to get to them. Just how far underground are these things? Tried to Google it didn't find much but they do say that they have the longest escalator in the world so it must be pretty deep. I am so sick I have to try to get some sleep.

PF Flyer

Spent the morning looking for cheap dress-up close without any success. Did stumble upon Wenceslas Square and had a good look around it. Inspiring seeing a monument to a young man who set himself on fire in 1969 protesting communist rule. Twenty years later a rally commemorating that protest started the Velvet Revolution which ended with the Communist government leaving Czechoslovakia about a year later. Not much for detailed history but it’s nice to see that individual acts (along with a whole lot of other circumstances I suspect) can lead to significant change.

Since we didn’t find any clothes we decided to do the best we could with what we had and assumed it would be good enough. I think we were wrong. It may have been us being sensitive but we didn’t seem too well received by some in attendance and the left over KGB lady usher. We got in ok and were directed to our seats. I looked around and saw lots of folks taking pictures so I discretely take out my camera and take one photo of the ceiling. The lady usher from hell busts me done and sternly tells me no photos. I apologized and said I thought it was ok since everyone else was taking photos. She looked at me as if to say “YFSA – if you didn’t come in REI Northwest attire and weren’t so obviously American maybe I would let you take a few photos but since you don’t get it put your fucking camera away, shut up and sit down”. I thought I saw an AK47 under her coat so I did what she said.

The concert (at least the part I saw – more on that later) was incredible as was the inside of the building. Really do love the orchestra part. Still don’t get the soprano part however. Can’t tell if it’s the words I don’t understand or what. The large lady with ample cleavage really had some range but it just doesn’t do much for me at all. A little past half way through the concert I had a coughing fit. It is hard to time your coughs during loud parts of the music or clapping breaks. Val nicely suggested I meet her in the hall after the concert. I obeyed as always.

I am glad to have witnessed the hall scene. They had a couple of screens showing the live action (just like sporting events) and you could hear the music (kind of). Some of the ushers including my friend were standing around watching. When a waltz song came on several of them including my friend started to waltz around the hallways. I wished I could dance it would have been fun to join them. Changed my impression of miss kgb too (a little).

After the concert we went to dinner at the fancy expensive restaurant that son in law suggested. Turns out it wasn’t as expensive as we thought. Got a dinner for two that had lots of meaty treats (sorry Mia) and included apple strudel for dessert. It was good and the most we have eaten since we left Anacortes.

We decided to wander a bit to find a Metro stop and got lost. Ended up in the complete opposite direction than I thought we were going at the river in a spot we had not been. Offered great views and wasn’t too far from a Metro stop so we walked along the river and enjoyed the scenery.

I titled this PF Flyer at the start with some vague reference to Prague Philharmonic then finally realized before I published it would be PP not PF. I like PF better and have a history of getting initials wrong sometimes so just deal with it. YYGG.

Val takes the reins

Val was our tour guide today and she is good (at tour guiding too). We did things today I have only dreamed about doing and there were no motorcycles involved. Two walks in one day plenty of transportation exchanges and we never got lost once.

Our first stop was some old fortress turned park and church. It was not very crowded with beautiful views of Prague and the grounds were incredible. The pictures are pretty good but they don’t do it justice.

On our way to our next stop we both agreed that short skirts and high heels are not always a good thing. No pictures but I am sure you can imagine.

Our next adventure was the royal walk and it included some of the sights we saw last night but now Val explained what we were seeing. We came upon some NFL nesting dolls. They had every team including the Steelers and Browns but did not have the Bengals. Must have been sold out Dan?

We got tickets for the Prague Philharmonic performance tomorrow. The tickets were expensive but since it is all in Czech money who cares. It looks like the hockey game is off but maybe I can catch some Euroleague Basketball in a bar that serves absinth? Really am looking forward to the philharmonic but we may need to do some shopping for both of us since our REI northwest attire might not fit in. The fellow at the ticket window advised Vietnamese second hand stores. He said they don’t check labels at the door. I am trying to decide if I should go with the second hand stuff or buy nice things that fit Alec and he can wear them. We will see where that goes. I am looking on the internet for good second hand stores and fancy retail outlets in Prague that are opened on New Year’s Day. Val has finally come around to the idea that bringing the laptop was a good idea.

We went by the restaurant that Adam had recommended and it looked too expensive and fancy for us. Hmm. We were hoping to get something to eat there in advance of the late night crowds so we needed a backup. I got Val some really nice street vendor sausage, one of those cinnamon toast things and a can of warm Czech beer to share between the two of us. Who said I don’t know how to treat a lady. I did get some extra cinnamon toast stuff as a bonus. I think that was because there was a fellow at the booth giving directions in broken English to a person and he ended it with “you can’t miss it”. I said that was the kiss of death and they both looked at me with somewhat angry stares. I said well anytime someone tells me I can’t miss it I usually do and then they got it, laughed and said welcome to Prague.

This is going to seem weird but I think I am missing having interactions with people. Not sure that is the case but maybe I’m not as antisocial as I think I am. I will give that some more thought after I have some absinth and let you know.

We went down to the river tonight to see the New Year’s celebration. Just like Bruce Springsteen? It was wild and fun. On the metro there was a young person playing the accordion and a group of young men singing songs. Since we don’t know the words we will assume they were Czech folk songs but it’s more likely they were just drinking songs. Here’s to Little Alec he’s with us tonight ………We got there early and found a vacant bench right along the river. The area in front of us filled up fairly quickly but it was fun watching the people.

“Love couple” were entertaining early and we thought they might put on quite a show but for some reason the fireworks between the 20 something girl and the 40 something guy never materialized. There was a fun drunk with some friends and another group of young people that kept things interesting while we waited the hour or so for the main show to begin. Lots of boats on the river the castle in the background and the Charles Bridge off to our left. Quite a site.

It was very crowded as it got closer to midnight but the crowd was fun and not obnoxious at all. We had read the there were lots of individuals fireworks let off at the Old Town Square area so we opted for the river display. I can’t imagine what the Old Town Square was like. There were tons of individual fireworks let off by the river in very close proximity to everyone. It was wild. No bottle rockets hit us and we only got showered with remnants a little. Val gave me a real kiss at midnight and I promised to buy her a farm in 2010. All in all a wonderful magical evening.

We working on a video of the fireworks scene and if we can figure it out I will post it asap.